Picton (South Island) to Wellington (North Island) New Zealand

Well, the unseasonal cool weather continues and even the locals say they didn't have a summer. March 1st was their start of autumn here. Hard to believe we are on the last leg of this adventure as we leave on the 22nd of March from Auckland.

Paradise female duck found only in New Zealand.
We saw her on the beach front in Picton the night before we took the ferry to the north island.

Pukiko or Swamphen. These birds are everywhere but we have seen them mainly feeding in the farm fields.

White faced heron seen also on the south island feeding in the fields.

This was quite an interesting museum in Picton.
We stopped in to see this massive old wooden ship before we boarded the ferry. You will need to click on it so that you can enlarge the print.

Her saviours were relentless until they were given the ok to set her up near the ferry terminal in Picton and hence the museum.

Interesting to see some of the crimes that these people were banished for from England.

The dark lines in the pictures are ribs of steel that tie and support the inner structure of the ship.








This ship was built in Calcutta India in 1846 or there abouts.

Note the layering.

 Sailing from Picton Feb 29th at 1:10pm on the ferry. Good bye South Island! Note the pressure point bands for motion. They work for me.

 

This was the largest ferry of the fleet at 10 decks in height.

The interior of one of the inclosed viewing areas with islands in the background. A 3 hour plus crossing. Cook Strait was good to us that day as it has a reputation for very rough crossings.

Approaching Wellington on the North Island. This is the capital city of New Zealand with a population of near 500,000.

Map showing the ferry route between the south and north island of NZ

Map of the north island. We are in Taupo as we compose this blog. Going to Rotorua in 2 days.














We decided to take a city tour in Wellington. This was St Paul's
Anglican Church, a total wooden structure.

Inside the church. Magnificent wooden pulpit.

View of Wellington from Mount Victoria.

Dave got a real bang out of this!!

St Geralds Catholic Church and Monastery. An imposing structure built in 1908 overlooking the harbour and city of Wellington.

The Te Papa museum tour was awesome. This is a giant mollusk about 34" X 40"

The NZ blackbird. This is the male. We thought it was a robin as it hops and is about the same size.

The female Blackbird.